This week I was back at the task of developing some speed. I feel like my fitness has been good this year but my speed and power work has been lacking so I have been cutting down the volume a bit and focusing on quality in every workout. I also planned to have one full day off this week as something to look forward to and as a way to make sure I am not carrying too much breakdown from week to week. I got some good workouts in and I am looking forward to getting the chance to cut my speed loose and see what I can do. Pacific Grove is in two weeks and with the draft legal format and the strength of the field I am focusing on the run and swim in hopes that I can stay with those guys and try to hold on durring the run.
Swim 13,400 yds
Bike 7.5 hrs
Run 32.5 mi
8/6 - 8/12/2012 Santa Cruz Sprint & International
This week started off rough as I had to work a lot and it was BUSY!!!! Mélisande and I were also fighting off something most of the week so I was feeling run down and tired for most of the week but I stuck to the plan and got some good recovery in thursday and friday.
Saturday was the Sprint Triathlon and I felt good waking up early and enjoying my coffee while catching up on the olympics. Transition is less than a mile away so I wasn't in any hurry. I cruised down to the race through the sleepy downtown streets and as soon as I got there I started seeing familiar faces. This is the reason why local races are the best! I knew so many people racing and working the race that it makes it so much fun. I jogged around a little to check out some of the course changes and the fog line. I decided against swimming before the start because the buoys were not set and I wasn't sure about the start time. The race start was really mellow because of the small field and so we all got off clean and quick to the water. In the first straight of the swim Dylan McNeice moved up on my left and Tommy Zeffares on my right as we approached the first turn. Being with those guys at the first turn was great because they usually put so much time into me in the swim. The two of them started stretching out a gap to the far turn buoy and just after I made that turn Barrett Brandon passed me and I just tried to sit on him.
I exited the swim and began the long run back to transition with Barrett in sight and with the other two around a minute ahead. I was feeling a little disoriented as I have not done a hard transition in a while and when I dropped my goggles I just turned around and went back to pick them up. While doing so the two women leading the race passed me and at that moment I remembered that I was supposed to be racing...oops! I overtook the women in transition and with Barrett still in sight put my head down to begin the chase.
Near the turn-around I figured Tommy was a little over a minute up and Dylan was only forty five seconds up. Barrett was leading me by about two hundred meters and as I was setting up for the left on Swanton I realized that he was going to miss the turn so I started yelling "TURN" and so id the volunteers but he didn't hear and continued on. At this point I was in third and he was going to loose a minute at least so I figured I would chase on the bike and then reassess the gap. At the second turnaround the gap was about the same and I knew that was not coking back on the run so I settled back into tempo to save my lungs.
Out on the run with the gaps in front of me and behind me too big to worry about I just tried to keep my leg-speed up and after the turn around shut the pace down to conserve energy for Sunday. I really like the opportunity to do the sprint first and make sure the kinks are all worked out before the olympic distance on sunday. Several of my friends had awesome races and one of them actually beat me on time and it was so fun to be out there pushing it with all of them and encouraging each other.
I went home, got some good food in my belly and did some stretching and massage work to keep my muscles loose for sunday morning.
Sunday morning there was a bit of a change because John Dahlz was in the field and he is super strong! Everything went smoothly geting set up for the race and I felt good once my coffee kicked in :) The swim lead out the same with Tommy, Dylan and John slowly pulling away in the swim and Barrett and I working together to keep the gap from stretching out too much. I felt good in the water and I am glad that I got in to swim beforehand. There was some jockeying because it was a two lap swim and a quick beach run in between but that was nice because it was easier to keep track of the gaps.
My best estimate was that we were just over a minute down exiting the water and I knew we had some hard work to do. We smoked through T1 and Barrett set a screaming pace for the the first lap of the bike when he eased up I came through and put my head down to set the pace. My legs felt good and I was pushing a big gear. At the second turn around I realized that we were bringing them back and that feeling spurred me on through the bike. I gritted my teeth, got low and grabbed a deeper gear whenever I felt like I could. Barrett fell off the pace but by the last section of the bike I could see the guys up the road.
I caught Tommy and Dylan in the last mile of the bike and because of a course snafu John came in right behind us. We all exited T2 within 15 seconds of each other and I kept calm knowing that they would go out hard but my best chance would be to run my own race and hope that one of them cracked. I put myself on the limit for the first three miles and the gap to Dylan then John then Tommy slowly expanded and with barrett a good ways back I eased up for the second half of the run to conserve my place. Expecting one of those guys to crack is a little unrealistic but it was fun to finally be in the race. I am still making good improvements and I am feeling good about focusing on some specifics to dial in for the rest of the season.
Swim 13,000 yds
Bike 6.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
Saturday was the Sprint Triathlon and I felt good waking up early and enjoying my coffee while catching up on the olympics. Transition is less than a mile away so I wasn't in any hurry. I cruised down to the race through the sleepy downtown streets and as soon as I got there I started seeing familiar faces. This is the reason why local races are the best! I knew so many people racing and working the race that it makes it so much fun. I jogged around a little to check out some of the course changes and the fog line. I decided against swimming before the start because the buoys were not set and I wasn't sure about the start time. The race start was really mellow because of the small field and so we all got off clean and quick to the water. In the first straight of the swim Dylan McNeice moved up on my left and Tommy Zeffares on my right as we approached the first turn. Being with those guys at the first turn was great because they usually put so much time into me in the swim. The two of them started stretching out a gap to the far turn buoy and just after I made that turn Barrett Brandon passed me and I just tried to sit on him.
I exited the swim and began the long run back to transition with Barrett in sight and with the other two around a minute ahead. I was feeling a little disoriented as I have not done a hard transition in a while and when I dropped my goggles I just turned around and went back to pick them up. While doing so the two women leading the race passed me and at that moment I remembered that I was supposed to be racing...oops! I overtook the women in transition and with Barrett still in sight put my head down to begin the chase.
Near the turn-around I figured Tommy was a little over a minute up and Dylan was only forty five seconds up. Barrett was leading me by about two hundred meters and as I was setting up for the left on Swanton I realized that he was going to miss the turn so I started yelling "TURN" and so id the volunteers but he didn't hear and continued on. At this point I was in third and he was going to loose a minute at least so I figured I would chase on the bike and then reassess the gap. At the second turnaround the gap was about the same and I knew that was not coking back on the run so I settled back into tempo to save my lungs.
Out on the run with the gaps in front of me and behind me too big to worry about I just tried to keep my leg-speed up and after the turn around shut the pace down to conserve energy for Sunday. I really like the opportunity to do the sprint first and make sure the kinks are all worked out before the olympic distance on sunday. Several of my friends had awesome races and one of them actually beat me on time and it was so fun to be out there pushing it with all of them and encouraging each other.
I went home, got some good food in my belly and did some stretching and massage work to keep my muscles loose for sunday morning.
Sunday morning there was a bit of a change because John Dahlz was in the field and he is super strong! Everything went smoothly geting set up for the race and I felt good once my coffee kicked in :) The swim lead out the same with Tommy, Dylan and John slowly pulling away in the swim and Barrett and I working together to keep the gap from stretching out too much. I felt good in the water and I am glad that I got in to swim beforehand. There was some jockeying because it was a two lap swim and a quick beach run in between but that was nice because it was easier to keep track of the gaps.
My best estimate was that we were just over a minute down exiting the water and I knew we had some hard work to do. We smoked through T1 and Barrett set a screaming pace for the the first lap of the bike when he eased up I came through and put my head down to set the pace. My legs felt good and I was pushing a big gear. At the second turn around I realized that we were bringing them back and that feeling spurred me on through the bike. I gritted my teeth, got low and grabbed a deeper gear whenever I felt like I could. Barrett fell off the pace but by the last section of the bike I could see the guys up the road.
I caught Tommy and Dylan in the last mile of the bike and because of a course snafu John came in right behind us. We all exited T2 within 15 seconds of each other and I kept calm knowing that they would go out hard but my best chance would be to run my own race and hope that one of them cracked. I put myself on the limit for the first three miles and the gap to Dylan then John then Tommy slowly expanded and with barrett a good ways back I eased up for the second half of the run to conserve my place. Expecting one of those guys to crack is a little unrealistic but it was fun to finally be in the race. I am still making good improvements and I am feeling good about focusing on some specifics to dial in for the rest of the season.
Swim 13,000 yds
Bike 6.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
7/30 - 8/5/2012
This week I was trying to get a good number of workouts in but keeping them short and quality focused. I did a lot of speed-work which is a big departure from what I have been doing most of the year so it was a little challenging. I may have been fighting something off too because thursday I was completely wiped out ofter not going all that hard on wednesday. Nothing major to report but there are some fun local events coming up so I am excited for that :)
Swim 12,200 yds
Bike 6.25 hrs
Run 24 mi
Swim 12,200 yds
Bike 6.25 hrs
Run 24 mi
7/23 - 7/29/2012
This was a fun week. I finished up some recovery work and then did some short workouts near the end of the week focusing on speed only and not worrying about volume or beating up my system too much. I did another fun local event this weekend, participating in a triathlon relay for the first time and getting to do just the fun part :) THE BIKE! Totally awesome way to participate in a triathlon! I did some fun riding around town with my girl to pick some flowers and an easy trail run with friends on sunday t cap it off. All in all a great week :)
Swim 10,650 yds
Bike 8.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
Swim 10,650 yds
Bike 8.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
Wharf to Wharf & 7/16 - 7/22/2012
This week I was taking it very easy and making sure that everything was loose and warm. I didn't feel too wrecked from Vineman physically but the disappointment of knowing that I left a lot of time out on the course has been siting badly with me. In some ways it is dejecting but in some ways it motivates me to get out there and try again. I felt pretty good by late week and a friend had a bib they were not using for Wharf to Wharf so I figured I would jump in and jog it.
Wharf to Wharf is an incredible event, drawing well over 10,000 participants and thousands more cheering supporters. I showed up only a short while before the event and thanks to people's need for personal space wedged my way up close to the front. There was music and dancing going on near the start and everyone was smiling and chatting. It was awesome to be in the midst of such a huge crowd of active people all excited for the event.
When the gun went off everyone started sprinting, as overly excited people will do, so even though I was planning on jogging the whole thing I kind of got sucked along at a quick pace in the frenzy. Less than a half mile in I saw my buddy Julian trotting along and I made my way through the crowd to his side. We exchanged greetings and he said that he was setting some pace for a few other athletes and so I fell into stride with him. My legs and lungs felt great and being in a position of having no stress was so enjoyable.
There were tons of bands along the route and they were all jamming! It was totally fun to be along for the ride with all the people pushing themselves, supporters cheering and everyone out for a great time. We did our best to keep a steady pace but I felt like the course undulations and with all the stuff going on around us it was hard to do; it was really fun to do though and I am glad that I didn't just end up jogging it alone.
I have never had so much fun participating in an event and I am really glad that I did it. The pace was just hard enough to give me an idea of what muscles are still fatigued from last weekend and might need some work.
Swim 6,900 yds
Bike 7.25 hrs
Run 14.5 mi
p.s. These started popping up in Competitor Group affiliated publications this week...it is cool but a little strange!
Wharf to Wharf is an incredible event, drawing well over 10,000 participants and thousands more cheering supporters. I showed up only a short while before the event and thanks to people's need for personal space wedged my way up close to the front. There was music and dancing going on near the start and everyone was smiling and chatting. It was awesome to be in the midst of such a huge crowd of active people all excited for the event.
When the gun went off everyone started sprinting, as overly excited people will do, so even though I was planning on jogging the whole thing I kind of got sucked along at a quick pace in the frenzy. Less than a half mile in I saw my buddy Julian trotting along and I made my way through the crowd to his side. We exchanged greetings and he said that he was setting some pace for a few other athletes and so I fell into stride with him. My legs and lungs felt great and being in a position of having no stress was so enjoyable.
There were tons of bands along the route and they were all jamming! It was totally fun to be along for the ride with all the people pushing themselves, supporters cheering and everyone out for a great time. We did our best to keep a steady pace but I felt like the course undulations and with all the stuff going on around us it was hard to do; it was really fun to do though and I am glad that I didn't just end up jogging it alone.
I have never had so much fun participating in an event and I am really glad that I did it. The pace was just hard enough to give me an idea of what muscles are still fatigued from last weekend and might need some work.
Swim 6,900 yds
Bike 7.25 hrs
Run 14.5 mi
p.s. These started popping up in Competitor Group affiliated publications this week...it is cool but a little strange!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)